Bill Maher: Target prescriptions, not marijuana

Bill Maher says police should stop going after people who smoke marijuana and target pharmaceutical companies and doctors who peddle “the prescription sh-t.”

“One of the big problems with the Drug War is that it goes after the wrong drugs,” Maher wrote on Wednesday in a blog post. “Because of prescription abuse, drug-related overdoses have doubled nationally in the last decade.”

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He added: “We should lay off the pot and start curtailing the pharmaceutical companies and doctors peddling the prescription sh-t.”

The host of “HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher” noted The Los Angeles Times’ November series that reported there were 3,733 deaths from prescription drugs between 2006 and 2011 in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura and San Diego counties — more than heroin or cocaine.

“Compare that to the number of deaths from OD’ing on marijuana, which was just one guy in the Valley who giggled to death,” Maher quipped.

Since the states of Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana last month, politicos have weighed in on the topic — most recently former President Jimmy Carter, who supports the legislation. But it’s at odds with federal regulations, and federal authorities have indicated they will still enforce national laws. At a speech last night, Attorney General Eric Holder said a federal response on states’ legalization efforts could come within the next month.

Maher’s take? Authorities should focus on prescription abuse.

“Wouldn’t we be a lot better served asking our drug czar to stop worrying about the other drugs and focus instead on cleaning up this problem?” he asked.